In some languages, there are no finite and nonfinite verbs. That is, there is nothing wrong with:
Our company decided cut our market share.
(If you think there is nothing wrong with the sentence, read on.)
The correct one is:
Our company decided to cut our market share.
I guess it’s easy to understand the meaning of the sentence, but the questions are:
1. What is ‘to cut’? Is it the same as ‘cut’?
to cut VS cut
2. Why is it wrong to put two verbs together?
What’s Wrong with Two Verbs Coming Together?
There is nothing wrong with two verbs coming together, if you are not dealing wtih English. In English, the sentence ‘Our company planned cut our market share’ is absolutely wrong.
But why is it wrong? Why can’t we put two verbs together? Is it a sin?
In English, there is a hidden rule that most verbs should not be followed directly by another verb. But again, why? Before you know the answer, you have to take your car key with you. (You don’t have a car, me too. So borrow one.) Cos you are going to drive on a street, the Street of English. So have you fastened your seat belt?
A Crash of Two Cars (Verbs)
You may imagine that a sentence is like a one-way street and verbs are like cars. What happens if two cars from opposite directions running to each other at full speed?
The following diagram expresses the idea well, right?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
planned---------------> < --------------cut
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(The Street of English)
So to prevent any car accident (crash) from happening, you have to do something about it. What to do? You add ‘to’ between ‘planned’ and ‘cut’.
planned + to cut
In grammar terms, the verb ‘planned’ is finite but ‘to cut’ is nonfinite. In other words, the first verb in a sentence is finite and the second is nonfinite. So next time when you drive on the Street of English, watch out for finite and nonfinite verbs.
(By the way, sorry about not posting anything for two weeks. I have been busy writing a book on Grammar in Business English.)
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